``Where
the Bishop is, there let the multitude of believers be;
even as where Jesus is, there is the Catholic Church'' Ignatius of Antioch,
1st c. A.D

The Baptism
of Our Lord Jesus Christ

With this Feast,
Christmas ends liturgically, though it continues on in spirit and as a liturgical
cycle until Candlemas when we
recall Mary's post-birth Purification and Our Lord's Presentation in the
Temple.

On this, the Octave of the Epiphany, we continue to focus on the Mysteries
that entered our hearts on Twelfthnight and the
Epiphany, but today more specifically with regard to the Baptism of Jesus
by St. John the Baptist in the River Jordan. He Whose birth we just celebrated
now shows us how to be born again or "born from above."

The marvelling at the Theophany continues in pondering the meaning of His
Baptism, a meaning made more apparent by the Gradual, Alleluia, Offertory,
Preface, and Communion prayers of today's Mass, all of which allude to the
Magi and their recognition of Jesus as King and God. The Gospel reading comes
from the first chapter of John, verses 29-34:

The next day, John
saw Jesus coming to him, and he saith: Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him
Who taketh away the sin of the world. This is
He, of whom I said: After me
there cometh a man, who is preferred before me: because He was before me.
And I knew Him not, but that He may be made manifest in Israel, therefore
am I come baptizing with water.

And John gave testimony, saying: I saw the Spirit coming down, as a dove
from heaven, and He remained upon him. And I knew Him not; but He Who sent
me to baptize with water, said to me: He upon Whom thou shalt see the Spirit
descending, and remaining upon Him, He it is that baptizeth with the Holy
Ghost. And I saw, and I gave testimony, that this is the Son of God.

St.
John the Baptist, the prophet whom prophets foretold, heralded the Christ
during Advent, and now, at the end of the liturgical Christmas season, gives
testimony once again. He gives this witness not only by being in the spirit
of Elias (IV Kings 1:3-8), but by the place he chose as the site of his baptisms:
the River Jordan, where Elias (Elijah) was last seen before he was taken
up to Heaven, and the waters of which were healed by Elias's son, Eliseus
(Elisha):

IV Kings 2:11-19-22
And as they [Elias and Eliseus] went on, walking and talking together, behold
a fiery chariot, and fiery horses parted them both asunder: and Elias went
up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Eliseus saw him, and cried: My father,
my father, the chariot of Israel, and the driver thereof. And he saw him
no more: and he took hold of his own garments, and rent them in two pieces.
And he took up the mantle of Elias, that fell from him: and going back, he
stood upon the bank of the Jordan, And he struck the waters with the mantle
of Elias, that had fallen from him, and they were not divided. And he said:
Where is now the God of Elias? And he struck the waters, and they were divided,
hither and thither, and Eliseus passed over...

...And the men of the city said to Eliseus: Behold the situation of this
city is very good, as thou, my lord, seest: but the waters are very bad,
and the ground barren. And he said: Bring me a new vessel, and put salt into
it. And when they had brought it, He went out to the spring of the waters,
and cast the salt into it, and said: Thus saith the Lord: I have healed these
waters, and there shall be no more in them death or barrenness. And the waters
were healed unto this day, according to the word of Eliseus, which he spoke.

But more importantly
than this witness, the Father Himself and the Holy Ghost give testimony.
St. Matthew's account of this Divine testimony is more explicit. From the
third chapter of his Gospel:

And Jesus being
baptized, forthwith came out of the water: and lo, the heavens were opened
to him: and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon
him. And behold a voice from heaven, saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom
I am well pleased.

This revelation
of His glory was predicted in Isaias 40:3-5: 3

The voice of one
crying in the desert: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the
wilderness the paths of our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every
mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight,
and the rough ways plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh together shall see, that the mouth of the Lord hath spoken.

This Feast is like
that of the Pentecost in its revelation
of the Trinity, and even more is it like the
Feast of the Transfiguration
which commemorates the events that took place on Mt. Tabor, when Christ's
Divinity was evident in His glorious Light, when the bright cloud overshadowed
Him, and when the words of the Father echoed what was heard at the River
Jordan:

Matthew 17:1-5
And after six days Jesus taketh unto him Peter and James, and John his brother,
and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart: And He was transfigured
before them. And His Face did shine as the sun: and His garments became white
as snow. And behold there appeared to them Moses and Elias talking with Him.
And Peter answering, said to Jesus: Lord, it is good for us to be here: if
thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles, one for Thee, and one for
Moses, and one for Elias. And as he was yet speaking, behold a bright cloud
overshadowed them. And lo, a voice out of the cloud, saying: This is My beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased: hear ye Him.

This Divine
manifestation helps explain why Jesus -- the Sinless One, the Pure and Unspotted
Lamb -- would be baptized at all: so that He would be known for Who He is,
so that He would be made manifest.

In addition to this reason, St. Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274), in his Summa
Theologica, gives us three other reasons for the fittingness of St. John
baptizing Christ. One is so that Christ might sanctify Baptism, a sentiment
expressed by St. John Chrysostom (d. 407) when he wrote "In truth, Christ
needed not baptism, neither his nor any other; but rather baptism needed
the power of Christ." Another is so that John, by baptizing, "might accustom
men to the Baptism of Christ." And the last is so that "by persuading men
to do penance, he might prepare men to receive worthily the baptism of Christ."
Here he quotes the Venerable Bede:

...the baptism
of John was as profitable before the baptism of Christ, as instruction in
the faith profits the catechumens not yet baptized. For just as he preached
penance, and foretold the baptism of Christ, and drew men to the knowledge
of the Truth that hath appeared to the world, so do the ministers of the
Church, after instructing men, chide them for their sins, and lastly promise
them forgiveness in the baptism of Christ.

To give you things
to think about this day, I present two hymns by St. Ephraem. The first concerns
Jesus and John, and the second is here to help you appreciate your own
Baptism.

Reading

Hymn XIV
Hymn Concerning Our Lord and St. John
By St. Ephraem (d. 373)

8. Our Lord said "I will it so; draw near, baptize Me that My Will may be
done. Resist My Will thou canst not: I shall be baptized of thee, for thus
I will it."

9. "I entreat, my Lord, that I be not compelled,-for this is hard that Thou
hast said to me, 'I have need that thou shouldst baptize Me;' for it is Thou
that with Thy hyssop purifiest all."

10. "I have asked it, and it pleases Me that thus it should be; and thou,
John, why gainsayest thou? Suffer righteousness to be fulfilled, and come,
baptize Me; why standest Thou?"

11. "How can one openly grasp in his hands the fire that burns? O Thou that
art fire have mercy on me, and bid me not come near Thee, for it is hard
for me!"

12. "I have revealed to Thee My Will; what questionest thou? Draw near, baptize
Me, and thou shalt not be burned. The bridechamber is ready; keep Me not
back from the wedding feast that has been made ready."

14. "Thou fearest; therefore gainsay not-against My Will in what I desire:
and Baptism has respect unto Me. Accomplish the work to which thou
hast been called!"

15. "Lo! I proclaimed Thee at Jordan in the ears of the people that believed
not and if they shall see Thee baptized of me, they will doubt that Thou
art the Lord."

16. "Lo! I am to be baptized in their sight, and the Father Who sent Me bears
witness of Me that I am His Son and in Me He is well pleased, to reconcile
Adam who was under His wrath."

17. "It becomes, me. O my Lord, to know my nature that I am moulded out of
the ground, and Thou the moulder Who formest all things: I, then, why should
I baptize Thee in water?"

18. "It becomes thee to know wherefore I am come, and for what cause I have
desired that thou shouldst baptize Me. It is the middle of the way wherein
I have walked; withhold thou not Baptism."

19. "Small is the river whereto Thou art come, that Thou shouldst lodge therein
and it should cleanse Thee. The heavens suffice not for Thy mightiness; how
much less shall Baptism contain Thee!"

20. "The womb is smaller than Jordan; yet was I willing to lodge in the Virgin:
and as I was born from woman, so too am I to be baptized in Jordan."

21. "Lo! the hosts are standing! the ranks of Watchers, lo! they worship
And if I draw near, my Lord, to baptize Thee, I tremble for myself with quaking."

22. "The hosts and multitudes call thee happy, all of them, for that thou
baptizest Me. For this I have chosen thee from the womb: fear thou not, for
I have willed it

23. "I have prepared the way as I was sent:-I have betrothed the Bride as
I was commanded. May Thy Epiphany be spread over the world now that Thou
art come, and let me not baptize Thee!"

24. "This is My preparation, for so have I willed; I will go down and be
baptized in Jordan, and make bright the armour for them that are baptized,
that they may be white in Me and I not be conquered."

25. "Son of the Father, why should I baptize Thee? for lo! Thou art in Thy
Father and Thy Father in Thee. Holiness unto the priests Thou givest; water
that is common wherefore askest Thou?"

26. "The children of Adam look unto Me, that I should work for them the new
birth. A way in the waters I will search out for them, and if I be not baptized
this cannot be."

27. "Pontiffs of Thee are consecrated, priests by Thy hyssop are purified;
the anointed and the kings Thou makest. Baptism, how shall it profit Thee?"

28. "The Bride thou betrothedst to Me awaits Me, that I should go down, be
baptized, and sanctify her. Friend of the Bridegroom withhold Me not from
the washing that awaits Me."

29. "I am not able, for I am weak, Thy blaze in my hands to grasp. Lo! Thy
legions are as flame; bid one of the Watchers baptize Thee!"

30. "Not from the Watchers was My Body assumed, that I should summon a Watcher
to baptize Me. The body of Adam, lo! I have put on, and thou, son of Adam,
art to baptize Me."

31. "The waters saw Thee, and greatly feared ; the waters saw Thee, and lo!
they tremble! The river foams in its terror; and I that am weak, how shall
I baptize Thee?"

32. "The waters in My Baptism are sanctified, and fire and the Spirit from
Me shall they receive; and if I be not baptized they are not made perfect
to be fruitful of children that shall not die."

33. "Fire, if to Thy fire it draw near, shall be burnt up of it as stubble.
The mountains of Sinai endured Thee not, and I that am weak, wherein shall
I baptize Thee?"

34. "I am the flaming fire; yet for man's sake I became a babe in the virgin
womb of the maiden. And now I am to be baptized in Jordan."

35. "It is very meet that Thou shouldst baptize me, for Thou hast holiness
to purify all. In Thee it is that the defiled are made holy; but Thou that
art holy, why art Thou to be baptized?"

36. "It is very right that thou shouldst baptize Me, as I bid, and shouldst
not gainsay. Lo! I baptized thee within the womb; baptize thou me in Jordan!"

37. "I am a bondman and I am weak. Thou that freest all have mercy on me!
Thy latchets to unloose I am not able; Thy exalted head who will make me
worthy to touch?"

38. "Bondmen in My Baptism are set free; handwritings in My washing are blotted
out; manumissions in the water are sealed; and if I be not baptized all these
come to nought."

39. "A mantle of fire the air wears, and waits for Thee, above Jordan; and
if Thou consentest to it and willest to be baptized, Thou shall baptize Thyself
and fulfil all."

40. "This is meet, that thou shouldst baptize Me, that none may err and say
concerning Me, 'Had He not been alien from the Father's house, why feared
the Levite to baptize Him?' "

41. "The prayer, then, when Thou art baptized, how shall I complete over
Jordan? When the Father and the Spirit are seen over Thee, Whom shall I call
on, as priest?"

42. "The prayer in silence is to be completed: come, thy hand alone lay thou
on Me. and the Father shall utter in the priest's stead that which is meet
concerning His Son."

43. "They that are bidden, lo! all of them stand; the Bridegroom's guests,
lo! they bear witness that day by day I said among them, 'I am the Voice
and not the Word.' "

44. "Voice of him that cries in the wilderness, fulfil thou the work for
which thou camest, that the desert whereunto thou wentest out may resound
with the mighty peace thou preachedst therein."

45. "The shout of the Watchers has come to my ears; lo! I hear from the Father's
house the hosts that sound forth the cry, 'In Thy Epiphany, O Bridegroom,
the worlds have life.' "

46. "The time hastes on, and the marriage guests-look to Me to see what is
doing. Come, baptize Me, that they may give praise to the Voice of the Father
when it is heard!"

47. "I hearken, my Lord, according to Thy Word: come to Baptism as Thy love
constrains Thee! The dust worships that whereunto he has attained, that on
Him Who fashioned him he should lay his hand."

48. The heavenly ranks were silent as they stood, and the Bridegroom went
down into Jordan; the Holy One was baptized and straightway went up, and
His Light shone forth on the world.

49. The doors of the highest were opened above, and the voice of the Father
was heard," This is my Beloved in Whom I am well pleased." All ye peoples,
come and worship Him.

50. They that saw were amazed as they stood, at the Spirit Who came down
and bare witness to Him. Praise to Thy Epiphany that gladdens all, Thou in
Whose revelation the worlds are lightened!

Hymn XIII
Hymn of the BaptizedBy St. Ephraem
(d. 373)

Response: Brethren,
sing praises, to the Son of the Lord of all; Who has bound for you crowns,
such as kings long for!

1. Your garments glisten, my brethren, as snow; and fair is your shining
in the likeness of Angels!

2. In the likeness of Angels, ye have come up, beloved, from Jordan's river,
in the armour of the Holy Ghost.

3. The bridal chamber that fails not, my brethren, ye have received: and
the glory of Adam's house today ye have put on.

4. The judgment that came of the fruit, was Adam's condemnation: but for
you victory, has arisen this day.

5. Your vesture is shining, and goodly your crowns: which the Firstborn has
bound for you, by the priest's hand this day. Woe in Paradise, did Adam receive:
but you have received, glory this day.

7. The armour of victory, ye put on, my beloved: in the hour when the priest,
invoked the Holy Ghost.